Enlightenment from the classical Chinese "Two Ghosts Meet"

Things are sinister, and some people who have nothing to do with courtship actually have ulterior motives. This is a common means of swindlers. Don't believe that pie falls from the sky, and it is often a trap after pie. So, don't be greedy, so as to protect yourself better.

The article "Two Ghosts Meet" comes from "Notes on Summer in Luanyang of Yuewei Caotang". Original text:

My cousin Wang Bibo's wife died, and the painter said that one day he would carve it back and the whole family would avoid it. When the thief enters the wall, he will open the reed and grab the hairpin. If a thief succeeds, pretend to be an evil ghost. The ghost gradually brayed, and the former thief avoided it. When they met in court, they thought each other was really scared and both fell to the ground.

At dawn, my family cried, and when I suddenly saw it, I was frightened. They regarded it as a thief and poured ginger soup into the Soviet Union, that is, the ghost bound it and sent it to the official. It is necessary to get together along the road, so it is wrong to go back. However, I have witnessed it again and again. Ghosts and gods are boundless and I don't know what to do.

Wang Bibo's wife died, and the teacher of Yin and Yang told Wang that his wife's soul would return to evil one day, and the whole family went out to hide that day. When a thief knew about it, he disguised himself as a demon and jumped into his house to steal.

While rummaging through the closet, another thief was pretending to be an evil spirit and stealing. Later, the thief walked and cried like a ghost, and the thief inside quickly ran out. Two thieves met in the yard, thinking that the other was really an evil spirit, and they were scared out of their wits and both fainted to the ground.

After daybreak, Wang Jiayi got home and got a big surprise. A closer look revealed that it was two thieves. Even their makeup was tied up and sent to the government. This is really ridiculous. If you believe in ghosts, why steal them? Since stealing, don't be afraid of ghosts.

Extended data:

Yuewei Caotang Notes mainly tells the story of fox, ghost and god, aiming at persuading good and punishing evil. Whether the account in the book is true or false, it aims to reflect the decadent and dark state of officialdom at that time through these strange descriptions, and then oppose Song Confucianism's empty talk about rationality and neglect of practice, satirize the hypocrisy and meanness of Taoists, and allude to the greed, perverting the law and conservative superstition of social people.

However, Ji Yun also expressed deep sympathy and pity for the miserable life of the broad masses of people at lower levels. At the end of each story, the author always judges the background or rationality of his story in a balanced tone. Such comments are always intriguing.